Cadmus
by AmeliusTheAlteran
Summary: A muggleborn is sorted into Hogwarts in 1989, three years before the arrival of Harry Potter. Oneshot. Review and tell me if I should flesh this out.


I was thinking of making this a full story, and left a few secrets and foreshadows in here. Leave a review if you think you spot something, or if you want me to turn this into a real fic.

* * *

The small boats drifted towards the castle. The first years all hunkering low to avoid the chilling winds that blew across the water. A line of lights floated by the left side of the lake, Cade reasoned that they must be the older students in the carriages.

Hogwarts became even more stunning up close. Cade was determined to explore every inch of it. He wanted to learn all its secrets and its history. He felt so lucky in that moment. Living in a castle like Hogwarts and studying magic was something every kid in the world wanted. He wasn't about to waste it.

"Heads down!" Hagrid yelled as the boats approached the cliff in front of Hogwarts. The student floated through a curtain of ivory into a large boathouse. Hagrid probably didn't realize the first years were much shorter than him, and thus wouldn't need to duck.

Hagrid ushered them outside and up the cliffside path like Cade had suspected. The first years huddled into a grassy courtyard. The courtyard was surrounded by cloisters with rows of intricate windows and gargoyle statues, the grass was intersected by a cross of two thick stone pathways. The weeds sticking up between the stones added to the aged look.

The front of the courtyard led to a stone bridge reaching across a ravine and into the castle grounds. To the right side was another bridge reaching across the ravine, but it led to another part of the castle. The back of the courtyard held two giant wooden doors outlined by a pointed, smooth, stone arch.

"Everyone here?" Asked Hagrid. "Speak up if you didn't make it." He walked up the short flight of steps before the castle doors and gave them three strong knocks.

One of the doors creaked open immediately. A tall, grey-haired witch with emerald robes stood there. Her hair was tied back professionally and a stern expression covered her face. Cade thought she was trying particularly hard to look intimidating.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid."Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here." The witch brandished her wand and flung the twin doors open with a twirl and flick.

The entrance hall was a massive cavern that could have easily fit a small house inside. There were burning torches on the walls that didn't give off any smoke and a magnificent marble staircase against the back wall leading to higher floors. The ceiling was intricately carved and sculpted into a masterpiece of art. Many doors were located to the left and right of the hall.

The young wizards and witches shuffled along behind McGonagall. There was a dull roar of conversation behind one of the huge wooden doors, Cade guessed that was were the feast was taking place, but the Professor led them into another room. It was a small and empty chamber of marble and stone with vaulted ceilings and impressive decor. The small space forced them to stand rather close.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said McGonagall. "The start of term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family. You will have classes with the rest of your hose, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room."

The teacher gave the information with conviction and a stern glance to the huddling children. Cade couldn't help feel it was a well rehearsed speech. He wondered if it was the same for every year.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history ad each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours."

"What's the honor!" Shouted out Fred. Or perhaps it was George. Cade couldn't tell from where he was standing.

"Is there a prize?" Asked George. McGonagall didn't bother responding to the twins. She simply gave a glare promising retribution and the two red heads promptly stopped talking.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you take the next few moment to prepare and remember to behave yourselves," said McGonagall, looking at Fred and George for the last part. The Professor instructed them to wait quietly and exited the antechamber.

The group of first years broke into hushed wishers. People were asking one another about what the sorting would be, other quickly trying to remember spells for the task ahead. Cade simply rolled his eyes. Did they really think they were going to be tested on magic they hadn't even bean taught yet?

The nervous students were broken from their thoughts by the screams of the people behind them. Translucent shapes burst through the wall behind them. The ghosts flew and weaved around the students. They were pearly white and slightly luminescent, talking to one another and hardly glancing at the new students.

"There is quite a difference! Just as they student say, you are nearly headless but not fully so..." One ghost argued to another.

"What are all these students doing in here?" One of the arguing ghosts quickly changed the conversation. He was wearing ruff and tights and noticed the students first. His head was held in his right hand with a small strand attaching it to his neck.

"New students!" said a fat monk ghost. She smiled down on them, "about to be sorted? Hope you come to my old house, Hufflepuff!"

Cade refused to believe the ghosts had all randomly wandered into the antechamber right before the sorting. They must have known they were there. It was a perfectly choreographed performance, as McGonagall arrived not moments later, and it was something he could appreciate. They formed a line and were walked one by one out of the waiting room.

Cade got into line between a boy with short blond hair and another with long black curls. He looked down at his robes and smoothed out the few wrinkles that had formed from the train ride. He brushed his wavy black hair to the side to keep it from falling over his face.

McGonagall led them out of the antechamber and into a hallway back to the Entrance Hall. She stood them in front of two large wooden doors inset within a trio of stone arches. Sculpted stone knights stood on platforms all over the walls and stone fire braziers burnered brightly to the sides. Another flick of the Professor's wand opened the doors.

Thousands of candles floated in mid air above four gargantuan tables. The rest of the students were already seated, only taking up small portions of the long tables. The end of the hall held another table upon a raised platform, there several teachers had taken their seats. Hagrid was already sitting in a giant chair. The ghosts floated in behind the first years and took places among the students.

Looking up, Cade took a moment to observe the star filled sky. He couldn't tell there was a ceiling up there at all. _Hogwarts, A History_ never specified what enchantment the Great Hall ceiling had. Whatever it was, it was a beautiful magic.

Professor McGonagall moved a stool to the front of the first years. She next placed a dirty and used hat atop it. Cade looked closer at the object and noticed the wrinkles of leather formed into a barely recognizable face. The rest of the Hogwarts students had fallen into silence and stared upon the first years. Their faces glowed in the candle light and formed a sea of eyes following the every move of the incoming wizards.

The hat began to twitch. It straightened up and began to stretch itself. Suddenly, a tear appeared along the mouth of its face. It began to single in a low gravely voice.

 _Another year, another song_  
 _Where first years come to me_  
 _Don't be shy and come along_  
 _I'll always sort for free_

 _So come right here, and go sit down_

 _I'll see what I will see_

 _No need for fear, no need for sound_

 _It's all in head of thee_

 _Will it by the mighty Gryffindor,_  
 _Where one will follow his heart_  
 _Full of valor, daring, and audacity_  
 _No problem with bogarts_

 _Or the tolerant Hufflepuff,_  
 _A place of love and caring_  
 _Not afraid of tribulation_  
 _Never regrets with this pairing_

 _Maybe the clever Ravenclaw,_  
 _A house of smarts and effort_  
 _For those of right and able mind_  
 _Anywhere else would be an error_

 _Or lastly the Slytherins,_  
 _Where one can be great!_  
 _With a bit of thought and cunning_  
 _Your skills will culminate_

 _So come on over_  
 _pull out this stool_  
 _For it won't take me long_  
 _I'll have you sorted into this... ooo_ _old... schooooool!_

The Hogwarts students broke out into a rapid applause. While the first years only gave a polite few claps. The singing was rather terrible if they were to be honest. The hat took a few bows before becoming perfectly still once more.

"Of course we knew it was a hat," Fred began to twin speak.

"Hard for three brothers to keep a secret!" George agreed. Cade realized George's voice was just the slightest bit deeper.

"Not to mention we tricked it out of our mother."

"Not happy at that one, she was," George interrupted.

"And got our father, too," finished Fred. They seemed rather proud of themselves, almost too much so. Cade wouldn't be surprised if they were lying.

Many of the first years started to smile at the sight of the hat. It was nothing like what they were expecting for the sorting. It was much better. Professor McGonagall stepped in front of the to-be-sorted students with a large roll in hand.

"When I call your name, sit on the stool and I will place the hat on your head," she instructed. "Abney, Chloe."

A girl with straight blonde hair and a heart shaped face stumbled out of line to the stool. Professor McGonagall dropped the hat on her head, which fell below her eyes. Cade wondered how long the sorting would take - it only took a moment.

"Hufflepuff!"

The pale faced girl walked over to the Hufflepuff table and took a seat at the end. The bloated monk ghost welcomed her to the house. Several other girls nearby introduced themselves to her.

McGonagall called out the names in alphabetic order. Cade looked around and realized the sorting would take a while. There were roughly seventy first years. If each class was that sized then there should be around five-hundred students in all. He did a quick count of the other students and determined there had to be more than that. There was probably closer to six or seven hundred students. His year must be smaller than usual.

The Gryffindor house seemed to take the sorting as a competition. They would explode in the loudest cheers whenever they received someone. In comparison, Slytherin would give quiet and polite claps like one might find at a golf course. The other two houses gave simple applauses, not under or over doing it, like Cade would expect out of mature students.

It was interesting that some people were sorted immediately while others had a second of delay. Obviously some of the people were easy to sort. Cade wondered what would happen if the hat couldn't decide. What was it that Caroline had said? To argue with the hat? Maybe it would just put the person where they wanted to go.

Roger Davies was sorted into Ravenclaw after a few seconds under the hat. Cedric Diggory was sent to Hufflepuff. Cade's name was coming up in the order.

"Elder, Cadmus," McGonagall called out. He stepped out of line and walked over to the stool. When he sat down and he was careful not to tangle up his robes. His vision was suddenly blinded in darkness as McGonagall dropped the hat atop him. The first thing he noticed was the horrible smell of the hat.

" _Hmmm, oh isn't this interesting,_ " Cade heard a small voice. It was like a whisper in his ear, except it wasn't coming from his ear. It was like a second person inside his head. " _What a mind you have_. _Plenty of intelligence and wit. There is wisdom, Merlin yes - so mature for your age. And the curiosity! Such a desire to learn, to known everything! So where should I sort you - It'd have to be Ravenclaw? No?_ "

 _"Perfect, that's where I wanted_ ," thought Cade. " _As long as it's not Slytherin, really, I won't complain."_

" _Really?_ " said the hat. " _There's ambition! It's part of your curiosity and desire to learn. And you can be very cunning_."

 _"Cunning_ _?"_ Cade didn't find that very accurate.

" _Oh yes. Making friends with Mrs. Dewley could be considered quite a cunning move."_

 _"My life expectancy would be considerably shortened,"_ Cade thought dryly to the Hat.

 _"_ _Indeed,"_ that hat seemed to chuckle atop Cade's head. _"There_ _is a reason I try not to sort muggleborns to Slytherin."_

 _"Anything else?"_ Cade wondered what the Hat saw within him.

"Anyone _can be brave or loyal, ambitious or wise. It's the current prevalence of qualities that determines how I sort you. But, just because I intend to put you in the house of wisdom doesn't mean you can't become the epitome of Gryffindors,"_ the Hat told him.

" _Thank you, but perhaps you could sort me now_?" Asked Cade. " _I'm starting to develop a headache._ "

" _Indeed, you probably are. If I could make a recommendation, Mr. Elder; research the mind in the Restriction Section_. _It shouldn't be that difficult a task for a - RAVENCLAW_."

The Ravenclaw table gave him a short but excited applause. Cade lifted the Hat up and handed it back over to McGonagall. He walked over to his new house and sat next to Roger. A few older students gave him a pat on the back as he had walked past. The sorting went on and slowly added first years to the Ravenclaw House.

"Dawn Elwood." The brown haired girl joined their table. She took a seat across from Cade where she was next to some other second year girls.

Very quickly the table filled up with new ravens, or were they eagles? Everett Ellis, Mabel Griffith, Casandra LeBlanc, Aurora Orbis, Colton Wescott. In total there were nineteen new Ravenclaws, eight boys and eleven girls.

"Fred Weasley!" One of the twins walked up to the stool and sat down. Cade couldn't tell if it was actually Fred from the distance.

"Would the real Fred Weasley please come up," croaked out the sorting hat. The hall erupted in laughter as Fred stepped out of line and switched places with his brother. McGonagall didn't look nearly as amused. What could she do, though? They weren't in a house yet. Unfortunately for Professor McGonagall, both of the twins ended up in Gryffindor. The look on her face was priceless as the two trouble makers were put under her care. It would be a long seven years for her.

Cade observed the staff table for a minute. He noticed that there seemed to be a rather unusually small number of teachers. There simply weren't enough for all the students. Either classes were very large or they weren't held very often.

As the last student was sorted, Albus Dumbledore stood from his seat. He was unmistakable in his colorful robes and silver hair. His beard nearly reached his waist. His face was full of joy, as if nothing could make him happier than the start of the year. He looked down on the students like a father looked down on a favorite child.

"Welcome!" He called out to quiet the last few conversations. "Welcome back for another wonderful year of learning! We will begin our feast in a moment, but first: that that is is that that is not is not is that it it is. Thank you!"

Dumbledore sat back down while the Great Hall clapped and cheered. Cade was amused at the quirky sentence ambiguity, although he preferred the 'buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo...' one himself, and applauded alongside his classmates. He looked around and saw many blank and confused faces. He wouldn't expect many wizards to know the muggle saying. He was surprised that Dumbledore did.

Food appeared on the table all at once. Heaping plates of every meat, fruit, and vegetable imaginable. There were even several different dishes of the same food. Roast beef, beef brisket, beef sirloin, and ground beef were all littering the massive table. Cade had never seen such a display of various foods. He couldn't imagine the size of the kitchen require to cook all of it.

Cade reached for the lamb chops and piled his plate high. He added on mashed potatoes, green beans, macaroni and cheese, and some more lamb chops just to be sure. He hesitantly took the glass of pumpkin juice and pour some in his goblet. It was refreshing at first, but tasted more and more like a fake pumpkin-pie-flavored Kool-Aid. He decided to stick with water.

Cade had eaten his way through several meals worth of food before he knew it. He'd branched out to try some new magical deserts and thoroughly enjoyed the cauldron cakes. The sugar high was already starting to take effect.

He looked around the table and found many of the first years engaged in conversation about living in the Castle. A sixth year prefect had walked over to Roger and was explaining the broomstick rules.

"First years aren't allowed brooms but there's not rule against them borrowing someone else's to fly around in their free time," the Prefect didn't seem to be taking the spirit of the rule into consideration. The older student must be trying to cultivate Quidditch skills in a potential house player.

Some of the girls were asking how they'd get simple things like toothbrushes and shampoo while in the castle. These were apparently taken care of for free and appeared in the bathrooms. Laundry was similar, disappearing for a night and reappearing folded on your bed. The magic of the house elves once again. Predictably, the Ravenclaw table quickly turned to talking about classes and teachers.

"See the one with greasy black hair? That's Snape, hates everyone but Slytherin. Though, if you answer his questions right and don't blow up your cauldron; he will leave us Ravens pretty much alone," the Prefect pointed out to Roger. "Everyone knows he wants the DADA spot."

"Don't worry, the work is completely manageable. It's not until third year electives that things kick up," an older student was placating Dawn Elwood. "I mean, with only one teacher per subject, they can only grade so much work at a time."

A seventh year prefect stood up and hastened them to finish eating. Many of the students, not just the first years, were looking warm and sleepy by this point. Cade wasn't feeling particularly tired. He'd always stayed up late and woken up early.

"Now that we have replenished ourselves I have a few announcements to disseminate," Dumbledore stood up from the High Table. "For the first years; the forest within the grounds is forbidden. Furthermore, if you are third year and above, please remember to turn in your Hogmeade permission slip to your Head of House. Once again, Mr. Filch asks you to remember that magic is not to be used in the corridors and that all banned items are listed by his office. There have been sizable additions."

"Quidditch trials, as always, are on the second week of term. Madam Hooch awaits anyone wishing to participate. And finally, we find ourselves in the peculiar situation where September the 1st is on a Friday. I ask that all students behave themselves over the weekend before the start of classes on Monday. And before heading to bed, I ask you join me in singing the school song!"

Cade looked around and found that many of the students had adopted a grimace. Even some of the teacher no longer held smiles. With a flick of Dumbledore's wand, a giant golden banner exploded into the Great Hall. The banner twirled and twisted itself until it began forming words.

"Every pick their own tune!" Cried out Dumbledore. "Begin!"

 _Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,_  
 _Teach us something please,_  
 _Whether we be old and bald,_  
 _Or young with scabby knees,_  
 _Our heads could do with filling,_  
 _With some interesting stuff,_  
 _For now they're bare and full of air,_  
 _Dead flies and bits of fluff,_  
 _So teach us things worth knowing,_  
 _Bring back what we've forgot,_  
 _Just do your best, we'll do the rest,_  
 _And learn until our brains all rot._

The Great Hall filled with a terrible conglomeration of different melodies. Some were singing a fast and happy tune while others a slow and sad. Some people didn't sing at all. All the voices became drowned underneath the jumble and created a terrible drone of noise. The Weasley twins were the last to finish singing, emotionally performing a duet of Hoggy Warty Hogwarts.

The Gryffindors were the first to leave the feast, followed closely behind by the Ravenclaws. The Prefects corralled the students from the front and back. They exited the Great Hall into the Entrance Hall. By way of the Entrance Hall's intricate marble staircase, the new Ravens moved up a floor and got their first view of the Grand Staircase.

It was a massive room stretching many floors above with hundreds of portraits hang on every inch of wall space. There were at least four staircases on just a single floor, with some against the wall and some stretching over the middle of the room. There were even more landings and corridors, with the staircases moving between them at seemingly random. This was the Marble Staircase Tower, one of the largest towers in Hogwarts.

The Gryffindors separated away and worked higher into the maze of stairs. Cade followed the older Ravenclaws through the first floor of the grand staircase and into a long corridor. There were classroom doors lining both sides of the hallway. Every unused space held either a portrait, a metal knight, or some type of sculpture.

"This is one of the first floor corridors that surrounds the Quad. The Quad is the name of the courtyard in the middle of this part of the castle. There are seven massive floors surrounding the Quad, containing hundreds of rooms; this is a main part of the castle," one of the prefects narrated to the first years. "There are many corridors throughout Hogwarts, some are named and other are simply referred to by their floor and location. However, of these corridors most classes take place in the one around the Quad. The towers around the Quad include the Hospital Wing, Gryffindor Tower, the North Tower, and Lookout Tower."

The Ravenclaws came to the end of the corridor. A large circular room opened ahead of them, probably the inside of a tower. It had rising marble support pillars all through the room, reaching up to a gothically styled ceiling covered in a repeating pattern of carved stone. Cade saw large wooden doors at the far side of the room, very much like the ones leading into the Entrance Hall.

"We're about to pass through Lookout Tower, it leads to the stone bridge. We're gonna keep going until the Suspension Bridge Entrance. You'll notice Hogwarts is really separated into an East and a West, a ravine divides the two sides with five bridges crossing over. The West is where we are now, it includes everywhere you've been and seen so far, plus the clocktower which is on the far side of the Quad."

The student passed underneath Lookout Tower and continued further to a final room. Cade concluded it was presumably the aforementioned suspension bridge entrance. It was just as gaudy as the Entrance Hall but smaller in size. The group took a staircase down to ground level where a medium sized pair of doors led outside. When pushed open by the prefects, the doors revealed a long wooden bridge with wooden handrails. The ravine dropped down deep underneath the bridge. Two sagging cables supported the bridge from above with connecting ropes hanging down and attaching to the bridge.

Cade expected the bridge to be rather flimsy, it's appearance not one of strength. However, even with all the weight of the entire Ravenclaw house, the bridge didn't make so much as a single creak. Perhaps it was supported by magic?

"The East side is even larger than the West, although some of it is purely decorative space. There are dozens of towers and buildings, so I'll try and only cover the basics. The center of the East side is the Middle Courtyard. It is often referred to as the Transfiguration Courtyard because its north and east are bordered by the Transfiguration Corridors. To its south is the Long Gallery. The Courtyard's west is a mix of the Dark Tower, a part of the Long Gallery, and the Defense Against the Dark Arts Department."

"This DADA Department is where the Suspension Bridge will take us," another prefect, a girl this time, took over the tour. "As said before, this will now be the Eastern side of Hogwarts. As the DADA Department name implies, it holds DADA classrooms and offices. It also holds the training grounds entrance, where you can get out to the training grounds; a large grassy area surrounded by old and crumbling castle walls."

"These giant walls are the interior walls, the smaller exterior ones extend all around the lake and the forbidden forest and meet up at the front gate and Hogsmeade station. You went through one of its entrances to get to the boats earlier today. Now, above the DADA Department are three towers: the Turris Magnus, Turris Medius, and the Ravenclaw Tower. Obviously, the Ravenclaw Tower is our destination; we'll need to go up to the fifth floor to get into it. The Turris Magnus is the gargantuan Defense Against the Dark Arts tower, which holds even more DADA classrooms and offices. The Turris Medius is currently unused."

The first years dutifully followed their new housemates through the ground floors of the DADA Department and then up five flights of back and forth marble steps. Luckily, these stairs didn't move or have missing steps. After another series of corridors on the fifth floor, they finally came upon the entrance to the Ravenclaw Tower. A large and open spiral staircase.

"Who needs sports when you have this many stairs just to get to bed?" Roger whispered over to Cade. He couldn't help but agree. He'd be in great shape just from all the walking he would do every day.

The staircase winded high up into the tower. Interlocking stone bricks lined the curved walls, and a thick cast iron railing protected students from falling to the bottom. Occasionally a small staircase would separate off and lead into the wall, presumably into a small turret attached to the side of the main tower. Finally, only a single obstacle separated them from the common room: a door not with a knob or keyhole but a bronze knocker shaped as an eagle.

The lead prefect stepped up to the door and gave a single rap with his knuckles. The eagle shaped knocker began moving, it fluttered its wings and seemed to yawn. After a short stretch, the bird settled back down onto the knocker. It quirked its head and opened its beak.

"There is a house. One enters it blind and leaves seeing. What is it?" The bird closed its beak and stared upon the group of students. It occasionally moved its head back and forth, settling it in tilted and questioning postures.

Cade recognized the riddle, it was famous for being one of the earliest in recorded history. Year four of primary school had covered ancient civilizations, briefly. That very riddle was from the ancient Sumerians. The answer to the riddle being a school. Cade thought the riddle very appropriate for the first day of Hogwarts. He wondered how many wizards knew who the Sumerians were. Maybe there were famous for their magic too?

"A school," answered the prefect. The eagle bowed in acceptance, whispering congratulations to the prefect, and allowed the door to swing open. The spiral stairs continued on the other side of the door, leading directly up through the floor of the common room. Cade came up the final step of the stairs, grasping the bronze railing the rose up on the floor. It was odd that the stairs entered the room slightly offset from the middle.

The Ravenclaw common room was even more massive than the preceding staircase, the tower widening out significantly. Cade realized it was necessary for the more than a hundred Ravenclaws to use at the same time.

It was a very airy room with a midnight blue carpet covering most of its floor. Pale rose colored walls stretched around the room and were covered in Ravenclaw crests, Ravenclaw banners, notice boards, torch holders, lanterns, and much more. The room was furnished with tables, chairs, sofas, and bookshelves of a dark and rich wood. Many of these had inlay of intricate floral patterns.

The rosy walls ascended above Cade's head until they reached massive arching windows. The middle of each window was filled with stained glass in the form of the Ravenclaw crest. All of the windows were separated by only thin spacings of stone, giving a great feeling of openness to the common room. The ceiling above held a series of square blue murals separated by clean stone lines, all of these murals surrounded a massive circular painting of the universe. This masterful work was full of twinkling blue stars and spiraling galaxies. It deserved to be placed in a museum.

Along the walls of the common room were several protruding semi-circular alcoves that pushed outward from the main circle of the tower. Each of these protrusions held something different. In one, the carpet turned to hard wood and had sitting pillows alongside a comforting fire. Two opposite alcoves contained tall slender windows with plush window seating. A final one held a statue of white marble, Cade was beginning to realize Hogwarts was full of marble, with two more spiral staircases to the left and right.

Before all the students could be sent up these stairs to bed, the prefects had to round all the years for a welcome speech. Cade stood in the middle of the other first years, trying to move towards the back, but being herded forward by the rest of the house. One of the older prefect stepped in front of the group.

"I'm your seventh year prefect Maxwell Wildsmith, and its a great pleasure to welcome you to RAVENCLAW HOUSE! As you've seen; our common room is above Ravenclaw Tower, behind a door with an enchanted eagle. This knocker posses a riddle which acts as the password to our common room. Some first-yeas find this scary; but don't worry, Ravenclaws learn quickly! Some even begin to enjoy the challenge, standing outside the door trying riddle after riddle. Although, it can be annoying if you need to get in and out quickly," the prefect introduced.

"Ravenclaws are all individuals. We pride ourselves in the myriad of personalities in this house. While other houses may stereotype us as bookish or introverts, we are a wide ranging group of characters. We value our differences, and embrace what we can learn from them. Professor Filius Filtwick, our head of house, embodies the uniqueness of Ravenclaws. He's nearly half my size, yet one of the best Charms Masters is the world. He's always willing to help one of use out, whether its school related or personal doesn't matter; his office is always open."

"Ravenclaw has a wonderful history of innovation and intelligence. Ravenclaws have, after allm created most of the inventions of the Wizarding world: the Wireless, love potions, and even the polyjuice potion just being a few. My own ancestor was a Ravenclaw and the inventor of Floo powder: Ignatia Wildsmith. Furthermore, Ravenclaws routinely produces higher test scores than any of the other houses. Unfortunately, going over everything that makes a Ravenclaw would be impossible. But luckily its is something you will be learning during your time in Hogwarts, just as I still do. Simply always remember that your housemates are watching your back, and ask if you need some help."

"Now, I'm not going to say much on the other houses, I'd prefer you to make your own opinions from experience. The only thing I will say is to be on your guard around some of the Syltherins. Mind you, they're not all bad and you can make some good friends if you get to know one. There are a few of them, though, that you shouldn't have to be told to watch out for. Again, not to be biased but I feel obligated to at least warm you firsties of a small possibility of danger."

"Getting your bearings will no doubt be tough for you, but I have plenty of confidence that each of you will love it here. I advise you use the weekend to find your classes, as the castle is big and not easy to navigate. If you need anything call for the Grey Lady, she doesn't talk much to anyone but us Ravenclaws. She's wonderful if you're ever lost. Truly though, you can pretty much always find a portrait to ask for help anywhere in Hogwarts."

"Please try to get some rest. I know the first night is exciting, but the Express is always very exhausting. Our dorms are up those two spiral stairs to the sides of the statue of Rowena Ravenclaw. The floors above the common room alternate between girl and boy dorms, but only the girl stairs go to the girl floors and vice versa with the boys. I heavily advise you not to try and reach dorms not your own. Finally, check the notice boards in the common room regularly for information!."

"Once again, welcome to Ravenclaw. The most intelligent, unique, wise, studious, original, creative, and overall best house in Hogwarts!" He really laid the propaganda on quick.

Wildsmith led the first year boys up the left spiral staircase. It was a cramped and tight space that curled around a thick central pilar. The blue granite glittered under the lamp light as Cade's feet shuffled over them. Occasionally, a small window would look back out towards the Quad. Cade could barely see the Great Hall in the distance.

After a short climb, they came up to the next floor. They found themselves in a small alcove just like where they entered the stairs, except the opening to the girls stairs was sealed up and a tight hallway expanded forwards.

Maxwell sent the eight first year boys down the hallway, telling them to go in the doors with their own names. The older years continued higher up the staircase.

Cade arrived to the furthest door on the left. His name displayed in a bronze cursive lettering on the door. He stepped into his new room and was suddenly hit with a wave of fatigue. He stripped down to his underwear and collapsed into the four poster bed. Minutes later he was asleep.


End file.
